742 



SPAIN. 



On January 24th a royal decree was read in 

 the Senate, dissolving the Senate and Congress. 

 A stormy scene followed the reading of the 

 decree. The House seemed to be taken by 

 surprise, and the members were unable to 

 conceal their indignation. Passionate speeches 

 were made, which were answered by derisive 

 cries by the few supporters of the ininistry. 

 One deputy exclaimed, " The time has come 

 for barricades ! " The greatest uproar and con- 

 fusion followed, amid which the sitting was 

 declared at an end. 



On January 29th there was a serious disturb- 

 ance at Barcelona, caused by the resistance of 

 the people to the payment of the octroi duties. 

 A large mob assembled at one of the gates of 

 the city, and threatened the customs officers 

 with violence. The police interfered, and some 

 shots were fired. The rioters were dispersed 

 with difficulty. Subsequent investigations led 

 to the discovery that the disturbance was fo- 

 mented by the International Society, and 

 many members of the organization were ar- 

 rested. 



At the beginning of February, dispatches 

 were received from the Governor-General of 

 the Philippine Islands, announcing a serious 

 attempt at revolt. A company of 200 native 

 soldiers, belonging to the artillery service, 

 mutinied and took possession of a fort. The 

 place was subsequently carried by assault by 

 the regular troops, and all the insurgents were 

 killed. 



On February 20th a new ministry was formed 

 by Sefior Sagasta, composed partly of his own 

 adherents and partly of the members of the 

 Unionist party. It consisted of the following 

 members : Presidency and the Interior, Sagas- 

 ta ; Foreign Aifairs, De Bias ; Justice, Colme- 

 nares ; War, General Key ; Finances, Camacho ; 

 Navy, Malcampo ; Instruction, Robledo ; Colo- 

 nies, Herrera. 



The Radical party assumed a very hostile 

 attitude toward the new ministry, and even 

 toward the King. The committee of the party 

 published a manifesto, explaining its coalition 

 with other parties, on the plea that it despaired 

 of any results of the revolution in 1868. No 

 mention was made in the manifesto of the 

 King or his dynasty 



On March 9th, a meeting of delegates from 

 the committee of all the parties forming the 

 coalition met at the house of Senor Zorilla, 

 to arrange the division of the electoral dis- 

 tricts, and to settle the basis of their course 

 of action at the elections. It was decided that 

 each party should preserve its principles and 

 aims intact in the Cortes, and that at the elec- 

 tions the opinion of the majority of the oppo- 

 sition electors, to be ascertained by the pre- 

 liminary ballot, should prevail in the selection 

 of the candidate of the coalition, so that each 

 district should only nominate one coalition 

 candidate. 



On the other hand, a large meeting of about 

 4,000 electors belonging to the Ministerial 



(Sagastist) and Unionist parties, held in Ma- 

 drid on March 9th, appointed a joint electoral 

 committee of the two parties. Among those 

 present were Marshal Serrano, Sefiors Zabala, 

 Montijo, and the principal members of the 

 Unionist and Sagastist parties. Sefior Santa 

 Cruz made a speech, in which he said that the 

 deputies and senators of the Unionist and Sa-' 

 gastist parties accepted the programme of Se- 

 fior Sagasta, and formed henceforth a single 

 party. They had, therefore, decided upon the 

 joint appointment of an electoral committee, 

 te be intrusted with the task of selecting candi- 

 dates for the next elections. Senor Candau 

 described the coalition of the different oppo- 

 sition parties as abominable, and said : " We 

 are the revolutionists of September, and, with 

 a few exceptions, all the men who made that 

 revolution are on our side for example, Mar- 

 shal Serrano, Sefior Malcampo, Admiral To- 

 pete, Sefior Sagasta, and others. The exist- 

 ence of the dynasty is placed in the safe, keep- 

 ing of the real revolutionists of September. 

 King Amadeus represents the revolution." 



In response to numerous appeals, Marshal 

 Serrano made a speech, in the course of which 

 he said that, on the corpse of General Prim, 

 he had sworn to save the dynasty. He had 

 not failed and would not fail to fulfil this vow. 

 He warmly eulogized the King, and said he 

 looked upon the Carlists and Republicans only 

 as enemies ; the Radicals, he hoped, would rec- 

 ognize their error. 



The official Gazette of March 20th published 

 royal decrees accepting the resignation of 

 Senor Lopez Roberts, the Spanish minister at 

 Washington, and appointing Rear - Admiral 

 Polo to replace him. The new minister deliv- 

 ered his credentials to President Grant on 

 April 5th. 



The elections for members of the electoral 

 colleges (which choose Senators and Deputies 

 of the Cortes) took place, on April 2d, through- 

 out the kingdom, and were conducted quietly, 

 except in Cordova, and a few other places, 

 where slight disorders occurred. The city of 

 Madrid was carried by the coalitionists; min- 

 isterialists on the other hand were successful 

 in the provinces of Valencia, Salamanca, Hues- 

 ca, Alicante, and Avila. The Ministerialists 

 only gained a small majority, the opposition 

 having carried over 170 districts ; of its mem- 

 bers 62 were reported to be Radicals, 38 Car- 

 lists, 42 Republicans, and 32 Opposition Con- 

 servatives (Alfonsinos, Montpensierists). In 

 the new Senate the ministry had an over- 

 whelming majority. 



The newspaper organs of the Carlist party 

 published a manifesto (dated April 8th) of Don 

 Carlos, protesting against the late elections, 

 signed by his secretary and countersigned by 

 Nocedal, and declared that henceforth Don 

 Carlos an,d his followers would protest only 

 in the field. The Carlist members accordingly 

 refused to take their seats. 



A few days later Carlist risinsg occurred 



